Porto elected Best European Destination 2017

March 20, 2017 / 12:03

Porto has been elected “the Best European Destination 2017”. Once again, the city has outdone the competition from 19 other destinations and won this important award for the third time, with a record 138,000 votes. Porto is the only city in Portugal to have ever the award and the first to win it three times.

After being nominated and then going head to head with such cities as Paris, Amsterdam, London and Barcelona, Porto once again earned the title that it had previously won in 2012 and 2014. The only difference was that, this time, the winning margin was even bigger.

This recognition certainly highlights the city’s potential and attractiveness, not just for the people of Porto but also for all Portuguese and for tourists from all over the world.

Porto led the poll in 85 countries, taking 58% of the votes cast outside Portugal. Inside Portugal, it garnered over 89% of the votes.

The award of “Best European Destination” is the result of online voting on the Best European Destination website. This Brussels-based organisation, which aims to promote tourism in Europe, preselects a number of cities for the competition.

For seven days, the City of Porto, in Portugal, will become the European capital of water and innovation. A set of three major events will gather over 800 participants, including decision makers and technicians of utilities, political leaders, regulators, industry and agriculture representatives, investigators, tech companies, startups, SME’s, investors, and young professionals. These events will be hosted by the Municipality of Porto, with the institutional support of European Commission and the Government of Portugal.